It’s franchise tag time again, and you’d be forgiven if you forgot about it. The Seattle Seahawks' victory parade has barely coasted to a stop, and last year’s tag season was, well, forgettable. Just two players -- Bengals receiver Tee Higgins and Chiefs’ guard Trey Smith -- received the tag in 2025. Both emerged with long-term contracts, which is the ideal scenario for both player and team: The tag keeps a team’s top free agent from leaving, but the player is eventually rewarded with the long-term security that the tag does not bestow.
Alas, it doesn’t always work out that way. The tag can be used in preparation for a trade, or it can just be used to hold on to a player, even if there’s no chance a long-term deal will be hammered out anytime soon. And, of course, a player who receives a non-exclusive tag can sign with another team -- if that team is willing to give up two first-round draft picks to the player’s original team, which is rarely the case. That’s why the franchise tag is an extremely powerful tool wielded by management to limit the open market. That, in turn, holds wages down.
The window for teams to apply the tag -- they can use it once per year -- opens on Tuesday and closes March 3. A reminder: If a player gets the tag, the team has until July 15 to get a longer-term deal done with the player. If there is no deal, the player plays under the one-year tag, which players generally hate because of the lack of long-term security against the risk of injury. Also available is the less frequently used transition tag, which simply gives the team that uses it the right of first refusal if another team makes an offer to the player who got the transition tag.
The final salary cap figure is still not known, but it’s going to be north of $300 million per team and perhaps closer to $305 million. It is, in other words, a very good time to be a premier free agent in the NFL.
Here are a few of the players who could be tagged in the coming weeks:
There is almost no doubt that Pickens is going to be tagged. Traded from Pittsburgh to Dallas last May, he had a career season, logging 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns in the final year of his rookie contract. He also helped free up CeeDee Lamb in the pass game, and Stephen Jones has said the Cowboys want Pickens in Dallas. This should be a placeholder as the sides work toward a long-term deal, but the Cowboys have also shown a willingness to trade top players for draft picks. You can’t rule anything out, but it seems like Pickens will be a Cowboy.
The Colts have been clear that they want Jones, whose career renaissance season on a one-year deal ended prematurely because of an Achilles tear, back in the fold for 2026. There would certainly be interest from other teams if Jones were to hit free agency, so if a deal is not struck before the free agent negotiating period begins on March 9, Jones could get the tag to buy time. The decision on Jones is linked to the Colts’ chances of also retaining receiver Alec Pierce, who is coming off a career year. If a deal with Jones is hammered out, the team tag could use its tag on Pierce.
The Super Bowl MVP made himself indispensable in the final weeks of the season, running for 248 yards in Weeks 15-18, plus another 313 in the playoffs, and earned himself millions just before the end of his rookie contract. General manager John Schneider -- red Solo cup in hand -- joked at the Seahawks' victory parade that Walker had tried to negotiate with him just five minutes before. Even before the Super Bowl, the Seahawks had said they wanted Walker back, so the question is, how much more complicated are negotiations after his late-season explosion? The expected tag of around $14 million is pricey, and the Seahawks have a lot of other business they have to do this offseason. Either way, Walker had the performance of his lifetime at exactly the right time to cash in, be it in Seattle, or elsewhere.
Oweh had a strong second half for the Chargers after being traded from the Ravens, piling up 7.5 sacks in 12 regular-season games, plus three sacks in the team's wild-card loss, to round out the last year of his rookie pact. The Bolts are flush with projected cap space, so even the likely tag number of around $27 million should be doable, if they choose.
He is coming off an injury-hampered season, finishing with four sacks in seven games, but the Bengals retained the right to use the tag on Hendrickson during contract talks last summer, which led to a raise in his walk year. Given the nature of previous negotiations, it was easy to assume he would play in 2025 and then move on. Not necessarily. Perhaps tagging Hendrickson would be the prelude to a trade, or maybe the Bengals will keep Hendrickson for one more season. A defense in need of an overhaul would benefit from keeping its best player.
Until last season, it seemed almost certain that the Falcons would part ways with Pitts, whose production largely fell short of the expectations set by his selection with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, once his rookie contract expired. Then Pitts had a career year, finishing with 88 catches for 928 yards and five TDs, and was named second team All-Pro. The new brain trust will have to make a decision on the tag, but it’s hard to imagine Pitts being elsewhere next season.
It was a surprise when the running back was not traded during the Jets’ midseason purge, which sent Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams elsewhere in November, and Hall did little to hide his disappointment. At the time, the Jets said they wanted Hall, who eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in the final year of his rookie deal despite the team’s miserable season, to remain. If Hall gets to free agency, he will join a market crowded with running backs.